Ecclesiastes 7:1-29 CSB

[1] A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of one's death is better than the day of one's birth. [2] It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, since that is the end of all mankind, and the living should take it to heart. [3] Grief is better than laughter, for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad. [4] The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure. [5] It is better to listen to rebuke from a wise person than to listen to the song of fools, [6] for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile. [7] Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the mind. [8] The end of a matter is better than its beginning; a patient spirit is better than a proud spirit. [9] Don't let your spirit rush to be angry, for anger abides in the heart of fools. [10] Don't say, "Why were the former days better than these?" since it is not wise of you to ask this. [11] Wisdom is as good as an inheritance and an advantage to those who see the sun, [12] because wisdom is protection as silver is protection; but the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner. [13] Consider the work of God, for who can straighten out what he has made crooked? [14] In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that no one can discover anything that will come after him. [15] In my futile life I have seen everything: someone righteous perishes in spite of his righteousness, and someone wicked lives long in spite of his evil. [16] Don't be excessively righteous, and don't be overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself? [17] Don't be excessively wicked, and don't be foolish. Why should you die before your time? [18] It is good that you grasp the one and do not let the other slip from your hand. For the one who fears God will end up with both of them. [19] Wisdom makes the wise person stronger than ten rulers of a city. [20] There is certainly no one righteous on the earth who does good and never sins. [21] Don't pay attention to everything people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you, [22] for in your heart you know that many times you yourself have cursed others. [23] I have tested all this by wisdom. I resolved, "I will be wise," but it was beyond me. [24] What exists is beyond reach and very deep. Who can discover it? [25] I turned my thoughts to know, explore, and examine wisdom and an explanation for things, and to know that wickedness is stupidity and folly is madness. [26] And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a trap: her heart a net and her hands chains. The one who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner will be captured by her. [27] "Look," says the Teacher, "I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find out the explanation, [28] which my soul continually searches for but does not find: I found one person in a thousand, but none of those was a woman. [29] Only see this: I have discovered that God made people upright, but they pursued many schemes."